Method and mechanism for preforming wire coils



Nov. 26,

F. C. STEPHENS METHOD AND MECHANISM FOR PREFORMING WIRE COILS Filed June19, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 26, 1940. C STEPHENS 2,223,011

METHOD AND MECHANISM FORIPREFORMING WIRE cons Filed June 19, 1939 sSheets-Sheet 2 Nov.26, 1940. Q P N 2,223,011

METHOD AND MECHANISM FOR PREFQRMING WIRE COILS Filed June 19, 19:59 sSheets-Shet 3 \Hli 17 ft); dilly/ 4 Mammy 'Patented Nov. 26,

ltiETHOD AND MECHANISM FOR PREFORM- ING WIRE COILS Frank C. Stephens,Washington, D. 0., assignor to Elastic Knitted Wire 00. Inc.,Providence, R. 1., a corporation of Rhode Island Application June 19,1939, Serial No. 280,014

\ 15 Claims.

My invention relates to an improvement in method and mechanism forperforming wire coils.

The object is to fashion wire coils preparatory to the knitting of thesecoils into a wire fabric,

substantially as is set forth in my co-pending application, Serial No.78,293, filed in the U. S. Patent Ofice, May 6, 1936.

The invention consists in a method and means of pre-fabrication of wirecoil into more or less stretched and flattened condition so that theymay be fed or presented fiatwise to the final fashioning machine in asuccession of loops.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of one possible form of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional View;

Fig. 3 is a plan view;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation;

Fig.5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the fabricating mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal vertical section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5showing the stretching means in a raised position;

Fig. 7 is a similar section with the stretching g5 mechanism adjusted toa lower position and the retarding means set back to cause an increasedstretching of the loop;

Fig. 8 shows a typical formation of loops from top and edge; and 30 Fig.9 illustrates a series of loops stretched apart as produced when themachine is adjusted as in Fig. 7.

A, represents a base. A toothed. wheel I is mounted to turn withitssupporting and driving 35 shaft 2. Shaft 2 turns in a forming head 3,and a bearing 4 of any approved type. The forming head 3 and the bearing4 are vertically adjustable in any approved manner, on a bracket 5 bymeans of a set-screw 6 extending through a slot 4 l, in an. extension ofthe head, and thence into the bracket 5. The bearing e iscorrespondingly adjustable up and down in a post 8 in order to providefor raising and lowering the shaft 2 and the wheel l fixed thereon.

The head 3 is channeled through the center to form an opening 58 for thewheel l which turns and is housed therein. The central portion of thehead, that is, on each side of the opening it and at the forward upperedge, is in the form of a cam H, the function of which is to receive theformed loop as the teeth of wheel I disappear therebeneath as shown,thus easing the formed loops off the teeth.

A channel [2 is secured to the upper end of a support l3, and thissupport I3 is adjustably mounted on the base A in any approved manner,as for example by means of the lug It, which is fitted to and extendsdownwardly through a slot It in the base, and inthis lug it ascrewthreaded hole i6 is formed, and a screw I! is adapted to be turnedin this threaded hole I 6" and is swiveled in a hole IS in a lug i9extending downwardly from the base. By turning this screw H, the support53 with the channel l2 may be adjusted back andforth in order to bringthe outlet of the channel into the proper position relative to the wheeli. To per'mit this adjustment, a screw 28 extends through a slot 2| inthe bracket 5, and thence into the bottom of the channel i2. This screw20 is loosened when the support I3 is to be adjusted, and after theadjustment, it is tightened. Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show different relativeadjustments of the channel l2, and Figs. 6, 7 and 8 likewise showdifferent vertical adjustments of the wheel I and its drive- Shaft 2.

The numeral 22 represents a friction device which may be of some softmaterial such as rubber or felt, and which acts as a brake, and by itsfrictional contact with the coils of wire slightly retards them as theyare caught by the teeth of the wheel I and the loops are thereby pulledand stretched to a predetermined. size and distance apart. Pressure isapplied to this friction device or brake 22 by means of a spring tension23, one end of which bears thereon, and the tension is regulated by athumb-screw 24 turning in the spanning yoke 25 against the tensionspring 23, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. A pin 26 extends across theforward end of the channel, and forms a throat between it and a shoulder27 through which the forming loops issue as they are pulled from beneaththe friction device 22 by the teeth of the wheel I.

For most purposes, and it might be said under normal conditions, theloops take the form. illustrated in Figs. 1 and 8, that is'to say, withtheir sides contiguous andvery slightly overlapped. The teeth of thewheel I enter the loops, and as the wheel turns to the right, the teethpull and stretch the loops ofthecoil C, andas the coils pass one by onebeneath the friction device 22 and on up the curved inclined end 39 ofthe outlet end of the channel I! and through the throat formed betweenthe shoulder 21 and the pin 26, they are transformed from'their originalround form as in the spiral C, to a flattened and looped formation, asshown in Fig. 8. This is all accomplished by the rotation of the shaft2, and the toothed wheel I, the teeth of which pull and stretch in onedirection while regulated friction is applied and a braking action takesplace through the friction device or brake 22, and the amount. offriction to be applied is regulated by turning the thumb-screw 24.

.It is sometimes desirable to give the loops a slight tilt, asillustrated in Fig. 6, as distinguished from the formation illustratedin Fig. 8. This is easily and quickly accomplished by raising the head 3as much as required to give this effect through the adjustment providedby the screw 6. Or it may be desirable to give a greater stretch to theloops for certain types of wire knitting, and this is done by moving thesupport l3 back to the left and increasing the distance between thethroat at the end of the channel and the wheel I as illustrated in Fig.'7, this special form of loop being illustrated in Fig. 9.

Obviously, other adjustments might be made for different sizes andshapes of loops.

Power may be applied to the shaft 2 in any approved manner, as by handif desired, for which purpose the handle H is provided, or it might bedriven through a belt B.

As a convenient means for storing and handling the preformed wire aspool S is provided. This is rotatably mounted on the base A, andthrough a chain of bevel gears 33, 34, 35, 36, 31, 38 and 39, andshafts-l0 and 4|, it may be rotated by the main shaft 2, as shown inFigs. 3 and 4. Of course, the spool or reel S might be rotatedindependently, as well as in synchronization with the other parts asjust described.

To briefly recapitulate, the operation is as follows: A coil of wire Cis fed through the channel l2, and to start the operation one or twocoils may be stretched out manually and threaded through the throatbetween the shoulder 2? and the pin 26, and hooked over one or two ofthe teeth of the wheel I'-. The shaft 2 is then set in motion andbetween the stretching effect of the wheel l in one direction, theretarding effect of the friction device.22 in the opposite direction,and the drawing of the coils between the pin 26 and the shoulder 21, thecoils are stretched into successive loops, generally in the formillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, after which they are wound, if desired, onthe spool S as'shown in Fig. 1, as a convenient means of handling thelooped wire. They might, however, be taken from the preformer directlyto the wire knitting machine, previously referred to, and in fact thatwould generally be the preferred practice. As has been previouslyexplained by various adjustments, such, for instance as illustrated inFigs. 6 and 7, the formation and character of the loop might be varied,and, obviously, different results might be obtained by additionaladjustments. v

Since the wire is resilient, the loops may be initially stretched atrifle in excess of the ultimate size and shape desired, but theinherent resiliency of the wire causes them to assume a predeterminedform and relativity-as they-are eased off the teeth of the wheel by thecam formation H on the forward upper edge of the head 3.

In this way, I have provided a very simple method and means ofpreforming the loops, or in other words transforming the individualcoils of closely coiled wire into a-succession of adjacent or contiguousand substantially fiat loops, in readiness for fabrication into aknitted wire fabric.

I claim:

1. The herein described method of transforming wire coils into asuccession of approximately flat loops, which consists in pulling thecoils individually and successively edgewlse and therebeneath withsufficient tension and resistance to cause a permanent deformation ofthe coils.

2. The herein described method of transforming coils of resilient wireinto approximately flat loops'which consists in applying tension andresistance in opposite directions to the coil while pulling oneconvolution of the coil downwardly over the next adjacent convolution.

3. The herein described method of transforming coils of resilient wireinto approximately fiat loops which consists in applying tension andfrictional resistance in opposite directions to the coil, and passingthe coils edgewise through a constricted passageway between the pointsof tension and resistance.

4. Mechanism for performing wire coils into a succession of loopsincluding a rotary device, which receives and pulls the coilssuccessively downwardly and releases them in the form of loops, and aconstricted outlet through which the coils are successively andindividually pulled.

5. Mechanism for transforming coils into a succession of substantiallyflat loops, including means for pulling each individual coil edgewisethrough a constricted passageway.

6. Mechanism for transforming coils into a succession of substantiallyflat loops, including means for pulling each individual coil edgewlsethrough a constricted passageway, and means for applying resistance tothe coils individually prior to their passagethrough the constrictedpassageway, the resistance and the passageway insuring the forwardmovement of a single coil at a time.

7. Mechanism for transforming coils into a succession of substantiallyflat loops, including means for pulling each individual coil edgewlsethrough a constricted passageway, means for applying resistance to thecoils individually prior to their passage through the constrictedpassageway, the resistance and the passageway insuring the forwardmovement of a single'coil at a time, the means for pulling beingadjustable toregulate and vary the loop formation.

8. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil, thechannel having a constrictedthroat at one end, means for pullingthecoils individually and successively through said throat, whereby totransform the coils into loops.

9. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil, thechannel having a constricted throat at one end, meansfor pulling thecoils individually and successively through said throat, whereby totransform thecoils into loops,

and means for varying the distance between the channel and the pullingmeans.

10. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coll, thechannel having a constricted throat at one end, means for pulling thecoils individually and successively through said throat,,whereby totransform the coils into loops, means for varying the distance betweenthe adjusting the pulling means.

11. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil, thechannel having a constricted throat at one end, means for pulling thechannel and the pulling means, and means for 2,223,011 receive a wirecoil. the channel having a constricted throat at one end. means forpulling the coils individually and successively through said throat,whereby to transform the coils into loops, and a synchronized rotarydevice upon which the loops are wound.

13. The combination of a,channel adapted to receive a wire coil, a headhaving a central channel, a toothed wheel rotatably supported in thechannel of the head; the teeth 'of which are adapted to engage and pullthe coil, the head having shoulders projecting beyond the teeth whenthey reach a certain point in the rotation of the wheel, whereby to easethe loops of! the teeth.

14. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil. a headhaving a central channel, a toothed wheel rotatably supported in thechannel of the head. the teeth of which are adapted to engage and pullthe coil, the head having shoulders projecting beyond the teeth whenthey reach a certain point in the rotation of the wheel. whereby to easethe loops oi! the teeth, and means for raising and lowering the head antoothed wheel relative to the channel.

15. The combination of a channel adapted to receive a wire coil, a headhaving a central channel, a toothed wheel rotatably supported in thechannel of the head, the teeth of which are adapted to engage and pullthe coil, the head

